THE INTERNET:
Excellent starting points for beginners:
• Register surnames and towns at JewishGen Family Finder (JGFF) and search the existing listings.
• Read the JewishGen FAQ written and updated frequently by Warren Blatt.
• Peruse the JewishGen Infofiles for articles of interest. These are catalogued by subject and country.
• Join SIGs (Special Interest Groups). Many have discussion forums.

JewishGen — Almost everything you could hope to find in one place regarding Jewish genealogy research.

Search the databases
Indexes of microfilmed records mostly from Poland. Put in the family name you are searching, use the Daitch-Mokotoff Soundex system to start with, choose a town if you know it, or search by country.

Shtetl Seeker — town search
Find the possible location of a shtetl, town or city. You will learn the latitude and longitude and distance from a large city. Click on the coordinates and go to a map of that area, with your shtetl at the center.

Shtetlinks
To find more information about a particular shtetl. Web pages have been set up by individuals with an interest/ancestor from a shtetl. Some have old photos and history, personal letters.

OTHER INTERNET SITES OFFERING USEFUL INFORMATION
SteveMorse.org — An amazing collection of useful genealogical research tools and other interesting items from Stephen P. Morse, developer of the one-step Ellis Island research tool.

Tracing The Tribe — Schelly Talalay Dardashti’s interesting and informative blog. If you’d like to subscribe via email, look for the signup page link in the right hand column.

Yad Vashem Reference & Information Services — A compilation of sources for tracing individuals during or after the Shoah.

The Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names — The searchable database prepared by Yad Vashem, with the assistance of other institutions, now includes the names of approximately half the six millions victims of the Nazis
.
Ellis Island — American Family Immigration History Center — All the records you always wanted to access. If any family members came through Ellis Island, look for them here. If you want to search the database in one step, click here.

Index to the First Twenty-one Volumes of AVOTAYNU — An index searchable by topic, covering selected major articles and excerpts from two regular sections. Invaluable resource for anyone looking for in-depth material on a wide range of Jewish genealogical topics

Yizkor Book Collection — New York Public Library
Over 600 books are available online in their entirety.

Centropa — “Connecting the world to the lands of Jewish heritage.” This is a beautifully designed site that includes thousands of photos and stories from those who remained in Europe during World War II.’

Cyndi's List — over 241,000 links. A comprehensive resource for people of all backgrounds.

Immigrant Ships Transcribers Lists — search for family members by name, ship, port of arrival.

RootsWeb — a wide-ranging collection of links and resources. The Web's oldest and largest free genealogy site.

Ancestry.com — Great source of paid and free information.

FamilyTreeDNA — A fee-based service that will produce a DNA profile. A valuable resource when you can’t go any further with genealogy records. Founder Bennett Greenspan spoke to JGSWVO in February, 2007.

Jewish Web Index – Ted Margulis created and maintains a site with thousands of links to a variety of Jewish Genealogy topics.

Filmakers’ Library: Jewish Studies — A large number of documentaries for sale or rental.

Census Finder — A directory of free census records.

Telephone Directories on the Web
Large international white and yellow page database access. Includes standard, reverse (by phone # or address), criss-cross, and email directories. May search by name (full or part), address and/or phone number.
Information to be found:
Address, phone number, email address for individual. Using the reverse and criss-cross searches may identify others in the household (e.g., spouse).

Search Systems
Very large compilation of FREE public records databases online. Well organized. Categories include: national, individual state, Canada. It also has a brief general Global listing. Databases include information on specific individuals related to: occupational licensure, property tax assessments, loan payment default, corporations, nonprofit organizations, inmates, sex offenders, court cases, pensions, military, unclaimed property, death, birth.
Information to be found:
Profession, home value, criminal and/or disciplinary convictions, current and/or previous addresses, vital statistics, formal education, others in household.